Battle of Neuve Chapelle

The Battle of Neuve Chapelle was fought from 10 to 13 March 1915 on the Western Front of World War I. The British Field Marshal John French launched a limited offensive against the Germans at Neuve Chapelle in the Artois region following the cancellation of a joint Anglo-French offensive against the Artois salient, and, while the British achieved a breakthrough and raised the morale of their French allies, they were unable to exploit their victory.

Battle
Well-planned and prepared, the Neuve Chapelle operation's aim was to capture Aubers Ridge, a modest eminence in mostly flat country that gave a distinct advantage to the side that held it. The route to the ridge passed through the ruined village of Neuve Chapelle. The attack was entrusted to the British 1st Army under General Douglas Haig, a rising star who had performed well as a corps commander in the First Battle of Ypres.

The British made innovative use of aerial photography to map the German defenses, which were thinly manned and poorly constructed - the wet ground had forced both sides to build parapets upward rather than dig downward for shelter. 60,000 men and their equipmant were moved forward at night without alerting the Germans. The attack came as a surprise for the Germans. At 7:30 AM on 10 March, some 500 gns opened up a ferocious attack. The German barbed wire was cut and the trench line devastated. In most places, the British troops, which included the Gurkhas and Sikhs of two Indian divisions, were able to cross no man's land and occupy the German line almost without loss.

Lost opportunity
Haig had envisioned that initial success would be followed by a rapid push forward, with cavalry eventually riding through into open country. But confusion reigned. On one flank of the British advance a few German machine guns inflicted heavy casualties and halted progress. Units lost their way in the devastated terrain.

Communications also broke down. Reports on the situation at the front took hours to reach Haig's headquarters, and orders took further hours to travel in the opposite direction. While the British wasted time, the Germans brought in reserves to block the opening in the line and reinforce flanking positions. By nightfall, the opportunity was lost. The last stage of the battle followed what was to become a familiar pattern. On 11 March, the German commander, Crown Prince Rupprecht, mounted a counterattack. The British had moved machine guns into advanced positions and it was the turn of the Germans to fall in large numbers. When fighting subsided on 13 March, losses on the opposing sides were not dissimilar - 11,700 and 8,600 Germans dead, wounded, or taken prisoner. The British had gained less than 1 square mile of territory.

Aftermath
The failure of French and British armies to achieve a breakthrough on the Western Front strengthened the case for an alternative strategy. The Gallipoli landings in late April 1915 were intended to exploit the weakness of Turkey and the strength of Allied naval power. But Gallipoli proved no more effective than offensives on the Western Front and also ended in trench warfare.

Germany made one effort at a Western Front offensive in April-May 1915, at the Second Battle of Ypres, but otherwise stayed on the defensive while achieving major successes on the Eastern Front against Russia and Romania. In the autumn, the Allies launched major offensives in the Champagne and Artois sectors, with appalling loss of life.